Lyon Metro Line C

Line C (Ligne C) of the Lyon Metro is the modern incarnation of the Funiculaire Croix-Rousse - Croix-Paquet (Croix-Rousse - Croix-Paquet Funicular), an old cable-hauled railway operating on part of the current alignment.

Line C
A rack-railway train of line C at the station Croix-Paquet
Overview
Native name	Ligne C
Stations	5[1]
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Lyon Metro
Rolling stock	MCL 80
History
Opened	1891 and 1974[1]
Last extension	1984[1]
Technical
Line length	2.4 km (1.5 mi)[1]
Rack system	Von-Roll
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC overhead line Pantograph
Maximum incline	17%[1]
Average inter-station distance	625 m (2,051 ft)

In 1891, the original funicular line was opened, running between its namesake stations. After surviving the closure of the nearby funiculaire Rue Terme - Croix-Rousse in 1967, this line closed in 1972 for refurbishment and conversion to rack railway technology, reopening for service in 1974[1] (four years before lines A and B opened). When it was integrated with the metro as Lyon Metro Line C in 1978, the line's southern end was extended from Croix-Paquet to Hôtel-de-Ville (City Hall), also equipped with rack rail.[1] A further extension of Line C opened on December 8, 1984, when its northern end was extended from Croix-Rousse to Cuire as an adhesion railway (no rack).[1]

The line now serves five stations, and is 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) long.[1] It was constructed using various methods: the original route used by the former funicular line runs up a steep incline rising from a deep tunnel to an exposed trench, the newly built level segment at Croix-Rousse using cut-and-cover, and the latest section beyond Hénon running on the surface. Croix Paquet station claims to be the steepest metro station in the world, with an incline of 17%.[1] The repurposed alignment of the original funicular from Croix-Paquet to Croix-Rousse is among the world's oldest structures currently used by metro trains, having first opened in 1891.